Telephone communication and transmission cables and service lines normally include an electrically conductive shield surrounding the wires of the cables or service lines and protecting the wires from electrical interference. In the installation of such cables and service lines it is common practice to provide means for grounding of the electrically conductive shields at selected locations along the lengths of the cables. The prior art apparatus for grounding these shields commonly includes a ground strap having one end connected to the shield by a bond clamp, and an opposite end of the ground strap is bolted to a ground rod or, in many instances, to the telephone distribution closure or pedestal housing the cable loop.
It is also commonly desirable to test the continuity of the electrically conductive shields of the telephone cables by disconnecting the shields from ground and connecting test probes to the cable shields. With the prior art arrangements, each ground strap must be released from the ground rod before it can be tested, and then following testing, it must again be bolted to the ground rod.
Conventional telephone cable pedestals also have ground brackets for use in grounding the electrically conductive shields of service wires coming into the pedestal and being connected to appropriate wires of the cable. One prior art clamp arrangement for use in joining a number of service wires together and for connecting the electrically conductive shields of those service wires to a ground rod or ground wire is illustrated in the U.S. Sterling Pat. No. 4,136,423, issued Jan. 30, 1979.
One of the features of the prior art cable clamp arrangements such as that shown in the Sterling patent, is that it is necessary to insert the cables from a rearward portion of the clamp assembly and then tighten a bolt or screw which is on a forward or front side of the bracket or clamp assembly. Accordingly, the operator must have access to both the rearward and the front side of the cable clamp assembly. Additionally, since the cables must be inserted into the clamp assembly from the rearward side of the bracket or clamp assembly where access may be limited, placement or arrangement of the wires in the bracket assembly may be difficult and time consuming. Another problem associated with prior art clamp assemblies is that they commonly comprise several components which must be secured together in electrically conductive relation to provide a suitable electrical ground. If these parts are allowed to corrode or if they are improperly assembled, the electrical connection between these parts may be insufficient to achieve electrical ground.